King Charles III - Royalty Visits Coronado This Spring

king 6 — photo courtesy of Coronado Playhouse

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By Kathy Carpenter

Arriving in time for your Spring Break Coronado Playhouse presents the San Diego Premiere of King Charles !!!, written by Mike Bartlett and directed by Tyler Richard Hewes. from March 23rd – April 22, 2018. Billed as a future Historical, this play is a refreshing piece of theatre presented in what I called modern Shakespeare. Intriguing and imaginative with the supposition of what could happen. Hewes and Barlett hit one out of the ballpark.

Shakespeare can be hard to follow but not so with this show. I loved it. Gobsmacked. When I saw King Charles III was playing I thought it was a historical piece not realizing there is no Charles the !!!. Being a fan of period pieces and of learning more about history through plays,is a win – win. Then I realized King Charles III was futuristic history. Not sure what to expect I headed off to show with my niece. We were both captured immediately and enjoyed a new way of seeing things

The plays takes place in the United Kingdom in the future. The play is two hours and thirty minutes, and has a fifteen minute intermission.

Christopher Pittman as Prime Minister and Liza
Wismer as leader of the opposition – photo by
Ken Jacques

Queen Elizabeth’s funeral starts the play. The plot is of the time between then and the coronation. King Charles tIII is the heir to the throne. He takes over immediately, the coronation is just the official ceremony. The King and Prime clash over the signing of a new bill. The King refuses to sign, and the conflict is set.

Having lived in the Diana and Charles era and having watched an earlier play on the subject, the characters in this play were true to life characters With one exception King Charles completely fictionalized. His character in real life seems to be more like that of his son William in the play. That said, Richard Rivera, as King Charles III, entertaining to the core. He outlandish onstage behavior leaving me with a Sid Caesar vibe. Madcap comedy at it’s finest. Rivera brought the laughter.

Andrew Walters as William and Sara Jana Nash as Diana – photo by Ken Jacques

Christopher Pittman, as the Prime Minister, A strong lead..A solid performance. My two favorites. Travis Rynders, as Prince Harry, and Alyssa Salter, as Jess. Both were outstanding, and Ms. Salter really rocked the accent. She wasn’t a typical beauty, but stole Harry’s and the audiences heart none the less. Andrew Walters, plays Prince William, at first, he seamed kind of emotionless like how the British are portrayed. But in the second act, his light shines bright. Julia Giolzetti, plays wife Kate, the aggressor of the two. Sandy Hotchkiss, does an convincing job as Camilla. The story allows for the ghost of Princess Diana, Sara Jane Nash, takes on the role, and she speaks as if she is Diana, doing the Princess proud. The rest of the cast doing an excellent job bringing the play to life.

Travis Rynders as Prince Harry and Aylssa Salter as Jess – photo by Ken Jacques

After you finish your day at the beach instead of a ballgame why not mingle with Royalty?

Coronado Playhouse parners with the Wampler Foundation this production. Helping to provide live-changing experiences to children with physical disabilities Visit www.wamplerfoundation.org for more info or donate with envelope in program.